Spirituality in Mental Health: A Practical Understanding

Abstract

Spirituality has been known to co-exist with human beings since time immemorial. It’s a bit difficult to take spirituality out of human life. It is very much intermingled with every facet of our life. Our ancient Indian literature is full of explanations and descriptions about spirituality and its various facets. However, over time, spirituality is known to be confused with another similar concept- that is religion. There exists an understanding among the common masses that ‘being religious’ essentially means ‘being spiritual’. People over time have developed this understanding that spirituality and religion are inter-changeable. Never-the-less spirituality has always being seen as a marker of a self-actualized personality; as a milestone on the path of ‘nirbanna’. Over the years, there has been growing interest among the clinicians, motivational speakers, advocates of positive living, about use of spirituality in day-to-day life and clinical practice. For last few decades efforts are being made by psychologists and mental health professionals to incorporate different dimensions of spirituality in treating mental health disorders and to foster positive living. This research article attempts to distinguish between ‘religion’ and ‘spirituality’ in simpler terms. Further an attempt has been made to understand spirituality from mental health perspective and to oversee use of spirituality and its dimensions in day-to-day mental health practice.